Cockerill to send out Shiel against Cardiff

SCRUM-HALF Charlie Shiel will make his first home start for Edinburgh this evening as the capital club take on Cardiff at Murrayfield in the PRO14.

Shiel (right) is one of five changes to Edinburgh’s line-up as Richard Cockerill’s men look to consolidate their position at the top of Conference B.

Also coming in are Scotland internationalists Grant Gilchrist and Jamie Bhatti while a revamped centre pairing sees George Taylor and James Johnstone named in midfield. The Welsh side are languishing in fifth place in the conference and while Cockerill refuses to get complacent even though his team ran out winners at Cardiff’s home patch earlier in the season, he is confident in the form of his side despite having a number of players on international duty.

“They’re a half-decent side – they’ve got good players,” the head coach said of Cardiff.

“They’re missing a few players but crikey, so are we. I’ve played them four times since I’ve been here – I’ve beat them twice away and lost both at home. So, we need to make sure we’re on it. We’ve got lots of guys missing but we’ll have a good team, we should be well motivated since we’re on a good run, so we need to make sure we get all the basic things right.”

Edinburgh have picked up a maximum 10 points from 10 during the Six Nations window, which has put them in pole position to top their conference come the end of the season. However, Cockerill is adamant he will not get ahead of himself, particularly as his side have both the PRO14 and the Challenge Cup to concentrate on, something second-placed Munster do not need to worry about.

“After round 21, when we play Glasgow at Murrayfield, is when we think about topping the conference,” he said.

“We’re not a good enough team to start thinking about anything else but what we do each day.

“Whether you’re a Toulon or Leicester, or Exeter or anybody else – you just need to make sure you get today right. We’re going to see how far we can go.

“At the moment, let’s worry about getting into the top three, qualifying for Europe, and let’s try to get to a quarter-final to have a crack.”